Demon
by lostandmisplaced
Summary: One day a demigod encounters a demon. A demon that's been cursed; bound to a circle for all of eternity to be exact. Saving him is no easy task, but she's determined. Can she save him or is he beyond saving?
1. Chapter 1

I lay a hopeless heap on the ground. What is the point anymore? What is the point of being alive if I cannot live? I am eternally damned.

I bolt upright. I heard something, of that I'm sure. My heart beats wildly in my chest. Surely it couldn't be… But there it is again, there is definitely someone or something out there. I feel myself get giddy at the thought and I remind myself to keep my emotions in check. It is probably nothing. But in the case that my imagination is not playing games I stand up to welcome my visitor.

Much to my surprise a human girl walks through the archway. She does not notice me at first; her gaze is rather lazy as she scopes the room.

She notices me and immediately draws out a knife. It glints in the light leaking in through the collapsed ceiling. I realize my first impression was mistaken. She is not human, only partially so. I'd only met a few in my lifetime. Demigods. Their weapons are still the same, Cestial bronze. "Don't move." She looks at me warily.

I couldn't help but laugh. If only she knew the irony of the moment.

"Well come here already." I say my voice full of malice.

She narrows her eyes examining me, but makes no moves. "Are you a monster?" She asks bluntly.

"Well figured it out soon enough." I roll my eyes. "Not the brightest one are you? Now come here." I commanded once more.

She snorted at the idea. I look her over. She has wispy, straight, black hair that falls past her shoulders and freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. An unusual combination.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation? You are cordially invited to move your damn legs!" I snap exasperated.

She takes a step closer examining the situation. The floor is covered in rotted boards fallen from the ceiling, there is dust and dirt everywhere. Nature has reclaimed its land. Except for of course the middle of the room where I stand. There is a circle, burned into the ground about 10 yards in diameter. I am standing in the center of this circle.

"What type of monster are you? You appear human." She asked again.

She's rather straight to the point, I observe.

"Pah, I have many names." I shake my head. "It matters not."

She thinks for a moment. "Tell me what type of monster you are and I'll come over to you." She's obviously decided since I have not attacked on sight, that I'm not too much of a threat.

Damn circle.

"You promise?" I raise an eyebrow.

She looks confused. Probably wondering why I'm even bothering to ask. "Fine, I promise." She nods.

The room boomed and dust shook from what was left of the ceiling.

She jumps and I can't help but smirk. "Be careful what you say, promises with demons are binding."

"You're a demon?" She asks incredulously.

I nod.

"Do you eat people's souls?" She raises an eyebrow, her tone most serious.

This time I could not contain my outburst.

"Souls…." I say in between laughs. Truly, this girl is pure comedy.

When was the last time I laughed like this?

I grin brightly at her as she shrank back, clutching her knife tightly.

"Eh, now person. You're perfect, won't you lend an ear?" I smirk. "Before I eat your soul of course."

"No way." She shook her head. "I'm tired not stupid. I just ran away from monsters, I'm not about to hand myself over to one." She turned to leave.

"What? Afraid that I, like all fiends, am trying to steal your soul through my dastardly wit?" I provoke her.

She turns back to me gritting her teeth. "What do you want from me!?"

My expression is blank. "Why a story of course. I'm bored… and your voice…does have a rather musical quality to it." I threw in a bit of flattery in hopes of controlling some of the damage I'd done. I suppose my people skills aren't the best. Although in my defense, I haven't had a conversation in centuries.

"I'll pass." She shook her head. "Where are we? Last I knew I was running from monsters through the woods and next thing I know I stumble upon." She gestures to the sorry sight of what used to be a building. "…This." She finishes flatly.

"We are nowhere." I sigh, sitting back down.

"How are we no-" Her words were cut off by her cough. She raises her arm and covers her mouth with it, attempting to stifle her cough.

"This place doesn't exist. At least it's not connected to the human world… Or so I thought." I glance over at her. She is nothing special and yet… she is the first person to find this place since my imprisonment.

"Well then what is this building…" She asks looking around at the crumbling walls and deteriorating ceiling.

"A church." I sigh.

"Ironic." She comments.

I glare at her. "I'm well aware of my situation."

"Now will you please tell me a story?" I ask again.

She raises an eyebrow at me. "As long as you stay put…" She says a bit reluctantly.

"What's keeping me from you is more powerful than I care to challenge, person." I frown.

"Yeah right." She says in disbelief but she sits a couple of yards away.

"Still wary of me?" I ask

She nods thinking for a moment. "Alright."

"Once there was a poor shoe shiner. He took a shortcut down an alley and ran into a cloaked man. He stopped and asked him if he could shine his shoes for him."

"Well why would he do that?" I ask perplexed.

"Because he's poor, he can't be too picky." She explains. "Anyway so the cloaked man showed him his feet, they were bare. He didn't have shoes. And so he told the shoe shiner that if he would get him shoes then he would pay him his weight in gold. The shoe shiner instantly recognized that he was a fiend and refused. So he turned back around and walked down the alley. Except when he reached the end the cloaked man appeared again asking the same. And once again the shoe shiner turned around." She looks at me. "You can see where this is going."

I nod.

"So the same thing happens every time until finally the shoe shiner agrees. He takes off his shoes and gives them to the demon. Then the demon eats his soul and the poor shoe shiner dies." She finishes.

By the end of the story she seems less fearful of me.

Not quite sure why. The story wasn't very good, but it's not like I had much choice.

"Moral of the story is don't associate with demons." She adds.

"You're doing so, right now." I roll my eyes.

"I trust you." She shrugs. "Well, enough not to kill me anyhow."

"Thank you." I say quietly.

"Do you want to hear another?" She asks.

The offer throws me. Is she really asking?

But no. I can't appear too eager, can't appear too greedy

I shake my head trying to figure her out.

"Well, I'm going to go now…" She said looking at the ground and standing up.

"Go?!" I ask quickly standing up too.

"Well yeah… I have to leave…" She turns to go.

"Stay! Please stay! Please! I won't take your so-"

Then like a fool, I reach my hand out, desperate and wanting. I move past the circle with my fingers and withdraw as they're set on fire. I drop to the ground and scream out in pain. I clutch my hand and blow cool air on it as the fire burns down. I snarl in the pain.

Her eyes widen as the realization hits her. "You're stuck there…"

_**Dun, Dun, Dun… I'm so excited for this story I have so many good ideas for it. But please if you have any ideas for me, review. Your idea might be better than mine. Also this story is going to be one of my longer ones. And it's also in first person present tense, which is completely different than my usual style. So a beta reader would be much appreciated. **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**So this chapter's pretty long, and I realize that no one's going to read this. But whatever I like it and yeah…. I'm considering switching POV's with the girl for the next chapter. **_

Looking up at her from the ground, I feel my teeth chattering.

Oh, no, I know why I want her to stay.

Yes, I know.

To capture her.

Because as if- as if it just wasn't so funny enough that vines sweat down from the walls and grass is born through stone so close, yet just outside this putrid circle there's a human, breathing before me. Comedy.

Everywhere but here: but near to me. To my desolating blood. The blood that steals the very life of the earth.

These years have damned me; cut and clawed beneath my skin.

I _hate _it. I _hate- HATE_ it so much.

I hate the feeling it gives to my heart, and the strength it takes in turn. I hate it. My flesh heats and I look away from her. Looking into her eyes enrages me.

"How long have you been there?" She asks out of curiosity.

"Long enough to _beg_! _LONG_ enough, you hear!?" I yell. "Too long I've been in this stinking pile. I guess it don't mean nothing to you though."

"I wanna know." She frowns.

"Well I don't want to tell, aye?" I spit.

She presses her lips together, forming a pout of some sort.

"Person, I don't even know… I lost track of time a long time ago."

"Yes… sorry." She looks down at her hands a bit guiltily. Serves her right.

I take a look at my clicking, stuttering hand, my sight still blurred. It's sizzling, small blazes dance between the fingers. I take my tongue to it soothing the burns.

"You're a bold one eh?" I ask. "Sticking around a cursed demon?" Lapping the flames from the back of my hand, I glance at her.

"Are you okay?" She ignores my earlier comment. She seems concerned.

I suck my ring finger and squint. "What's that?"

"Alright? Fine?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Is that 'okay'? 'Alright', hmph, all right… Aye, aye; I am a demon, yes? We heal fast." Though I can still feel it snap and pop in the joints. I whistle cool air through my digits and take myself from the ground. "Are you going to stay?" I ask her.

"I… I could…" She agrees although reluctantly. She probably pities the demon stuck in a circle.

"I'm actually lost right now." She explains.

I chuckle at her statement. "Ah, ah, lost is it? 'Lost'; ha. That's sweet irony."

She raises an eyebrow.

"Don't look so addled, person. The irony's quite obvious here, isn't it?" I grin.

She squints.

"Think! After all, I cannot even be lost! Forever and ever, I'll know where I am. And where I am is… stuck." I laugh again, but she doesn't find it funny. She doesn't seem to find it much of anything at all.

I quit it, wiping away a figurative tear.

"So you don't know where Camp Half-Blood is…" She sighs.

She looks a bit hazy, as though she's having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

I shake my head, silently. "What's camp, person?"

"My home…" She trails off.

"A town? A new town?" I ask.

She laughs shaking her head. "No, no, camp is… you know it's… hard to explain. Demigods train and live there, we learn to fight monsters." She explains a smile still on her face. It suites her. She seems the positive, pretty type.

"That right…?" I raise a brow.

She doesn't speak, and I glance over just quickly enough to catch her at the end of nodding. I hear her stomach growl.

"Can't your stomach read a mood? Bleeding hell, I was about to tell a tale." I smile amused.

"Sorry." She wraps her arms around her stomach.

"You're… 'hungry', is it?" I ask.

"Starving." She nods enthusiastically.

"Us fiends, we only eat souls-and mostly for pleasure, although they do have life force." I attempt to understand the term 'hungry'.

She rolls her eyes. "Quit pulling my leg."

"'Huh?" There was no way I could pull her leg. I was bound in the damn circle.

"Hey, you got any food?" She asks me earnestly.

"What are you blithering on about now? Do I look like I got any food? I don't have any food, idiot." I thrust out my hand just before the barrier, palms up. "Give me the chestnuts in your pack. I smell them."

She hesitates. "Why?"

"So I can gobble them up, what you think? I'll cook them for you." I roll my eyes.

"They're not long from the branch or the ground smells like: you haven't cooked them? Nor have you eaten them. You prefer the taste of them cooked?"

She nods, slowly.

I twitch my fingers, waiting.

"Is there something you want, uh… For this?" She's still cautious.

"Your company for the morning, till noon."

"That's it?" She looks skeptical.

I nod.

"Okay, deal." She finally agrees. It resonates deeply, echoing, and shakes ash from the walls. Startled the girl covers her mouth.

"'Deal'… was it? Hmph." I smile. "Here."

"Did I just…?" Her eyes are still wide.

"Aye, you made a pact." I explain to her.

Shaking her head, she sighs. Wordlessly, carefully, she takes off her pack and opens it up. Withdrawing a bushel of nuts in two hands, she moves forward.

I look down at her, still waiting. With steady movements she brings her hands to mine.

She holds my gaze and I don't move at all. But I do think.

_Wait, couldn't I just…_

_Couldn't I just… You know…_

_Quickly just…_

My hands tense but it ends with thought.

She drops the heap into my palms. My fingers curl around it. Again, I turn up my lips. Seeing this, she hops back.

"Give me a moment." I tell her.

I take all but one into my left hand, holding the last between my right thumb and forefinger. Opening my mouth, I bring it between my teeth and puncture it with one of my fangs. I bite through the shell, making a rough cut from one end to the other and take it out. Observing the inner flesh of it, I spit out the shreds. Satisfied, I go on to carve the second, third, fourth, and so on. When I've finished, I hold the chestnuts aloft and make a hearth of my hand.

"This'll take a while person, but not so long. Might we talk some?"

"Uh, sure." She agrees.

I pat the ground. "Then have a seat. Where did we leave off before your stomach so rudely interrupted?"

She sits, chin resting on her knees and eyes half closed. "Camp something…"

"Ah yes, I'll tell you a story about my home, in return for yours. Though rather than a story… a chat'd be nice, aye? Save you a story for a bit later. How about you ask me a question, you're probably full of them."

She thinks for a few moments. "Why doesn't anything grow in the circle?" She asks curiously.

"You've haven't heard about us? About how we make barren anywhere we stand- unconsciously drain life from earth for our sustenance." I feel my face twisting to scowl.

"Sounds uh..." The pity in her eyes is clear.

I look away. "It sounds hideous. I know because it is." I sigh, this was not where I wanted the conversation to go. I decide to quickly change topics. "What about your 'camp'?" I ask.

"Well it's nice, there are a lot of kids there. And we have an ocean, lake, and oh yeah, strawberry fields." She grins.

"Oh is that where your scents from?"

"My scent…" She furrows her brow.

"You smell like nature, and a bit like flowers. It's very appealing." I explain.

She sighs. "Maybe, it might just be my Demigod scent…" She kind of slurs her sentence, but is nevertheless determined to appear strong.

I think about it for a moment. "Is that why the monsters go so crazy over you?"

She nods looking pained, and for the first time I feel a bit of pity for her. It was probably hard to be a demigod.

"For your noble, strong efforts: I think it's time for your story." I smile. "You ready?"

She shrugs. It occurs to me she might be 'tired'.

I clear my throat and loosen up my shoulders somewhat, poising my fire-hand dramatically. "Did you know that stars sometimes act as rain in the night sky?"

"You mean a meteor shower?" She laughs.  
"Hush." I quiet her. "Spoiling my story."

"Imagine this: thousands. Thousands of lights; and they all bleed along the cold cerulean mere above… slowly…very slowly… Follow? They are so very slow that as they make the long-stretch out above you, you hardly notice their drag. It is an impeccable slowness. Imagine it."

She nods very slowly.

"And flash!"

I flare the fire in my hand. The chestnuts wax: spitting and cracking.

She jumps the light catching in her eyes.

"Flash, haha! Flash, flash!" With each of these words, I stroke the flames. They lick up and dance wildly.

"And then… it dies..." The magic in my palm fades and sighs.

Her eyes glaze over.

"Death is quick to these stars." Straying my eyes from the light, I gaze upon the girl. "Say, person, that sorrowful to you?"

"Huh?" She thinks of an answer.

"There isn't a right answer, person; you don't have to consider it like there is one." I frown.

"It is." She decides. "It is sad."

"That's interesting-truly interesting." I nod.

I end the fire leaving the chestnuts to cool.

"These are done, now." I hold them out to her. "My end of the bargain's done." I motion to the dead leaves.

Squinting she waits a little, before crawling on her hands and knees pack in tow. She stops at the edge of the circle and takes the nuts from my hand. She looks at me, wearing a kind of ugly expression.

"What?"

Settling onto her rear, she keeps looking at me, but a bit less ugly. She seems to be pondering something. Eventually, she looks at the nuts in her hands instead, her face softening. She pops one into her mouth and chews a little.

"Which part of that was the story?" She asks eating another.

"Well, look at that, you aren't entirely daft." I laugh. "T'was a preamble, t'was. There's a story to it for certain, I told you I've seen this?"

Blinking she nods.

"I was not alone with those stars, then. I was with another… girl." My eyes lose some of their color. "She was fair, young, and human." I gaze at back up at the sky, clouds float above my head taunting me. "Such a charming girl- we would dance together and sing; press close when unseen… I was fascinated with her, I think, and so when she'd gotten melancholy I brought her from town to see those stars. I figured the beauty would please her."

The girl constricts her brow, chewing somewhat sadly.

"Oh, not to worry, not to worry. It did, it did…" I assure her.

She swallows.

"I've never understood the custom of man. I've always been free-thinking, and never bound to the thoughts of others. My actions that night- no- my actions altogether… None took kindly to it when she returned. "

"What happened?" She asked, entranced in my story, like a child before bed.

"What happened, well… after I took her back to town she was ploughed, and beaten, and beaten, and beaten, and ploughed, and beaten, and beaten - until she could not move or breathe. "

The girl stares, a nut in her hand held stiff, only inches from her parted lips. "I buried her under the sky where I last saw her smiling."

She closes her mouth into a frown.

"A century later I returned to that spot and found an olive tree grown there… It was the sickest thing, gnarled and twisted, it was. Furious, I razed the entire plant: its trunk, its bark, its branches, and leaves, I scorched its roots. Would have torn out the roots, though refrained to not disturb her. Yet last I'd seen, it remained: alive, borne fruit, and uglier than before." I end the story, practically forgetting who I was telling it to. "Isn't that the most wonderful story one can tell?" A fake smile was on my face.

"No!" The girl speaks harshly.

"Did it not amuse you?" I study her.

"Didn't you mess up the guys who did it?" She's not sitting still anymore, she looks ready for action.

"Mess up?"

"You're a fiend! You didn't eat them?" She seems outraged.

"I didn't eat them." I replied honestly. "What happened to them doesn't matter to the story."

Her body leans towards me. "But I wanna know!"

"I don't want to tell." I sigh looking at the ground.

"Ugh! Seriously?" She frowns. "When people mess with my friends I always protect them. That's what love is, taking care of the people you care about!"

"Love?" I raise an eyebrow. "That's what you figured from this tale? That I fancied her?"

"Well obviously." She crosses her arms.

"You believe us to be capable of such emotions?"

She's silent for a moment. "Now. Yes I do."

"It's my story, person, not yours. Come off it. It is an old story and it is only a story. Stop." I lie.

She holds the shell in her hand against the wall at her side, her expression sour. "That's stupid."

"Bollocks, I don't want to hear that from your fool arse."

"That's a dumb story!" She repeats.

What? What's this? "You starting? Learn to keep your tongue in your check; or I'll tear out your tongue, hear? Don't start with me." My anger flares.

The girl freezes, hand hovering over her last chestnut.

"I'll rip your legs off understand? Don't start with me. Last thing you need to be worrying over is your soul. Since I'll rend you limbless if you start with me, and there won't be anything to be holding that soul at all. You start with me, I'll kill you. We clear, person?"

She's silent for a moment. "Sorry." She apologizes. "It really isn't any of my business." She looks at me a bit distasteful.

I chuckle. "You're a cute thing, aren't you? I can't move from here, person, you know that."

She speaks up. "Your threat wasn't real, but your emotions were." The girl lets out a loud sigh, shaking as it leaves her. "I'm pretty tired."

"Then stay till sunset and I'll watch over you."

"It's noon already?" She looks up at the sky through the rotted ceiling.

I nod. "Aye." I sit myself down, lounging across from her. She stares, her vision slowing and jumping and trying to focus. Eventually, she squints, leveling her eyes on me.

"So is that what you are: 'tired'?"

"Y-Yeah." She yawns.

"How long have you been gone from your camp person?" I question.

"I dunno, two days?" She responds.

"Ohhh, isn't that a long time." I mock her.

"No…" She replies coolly.

"It's a joke." I laugh.

"I don't want… If I laugh it'd basically be like me laughing at you." She frowns.

"Ha! Answering with a greater joke instead of simply laughing! You really are a jester." I grin.

"A greater joke?" Her face is full of confusion.

"My existence." I explain. "My predicament and existence, together, are the greatest joke in all of history-I know this and I've missed half of it!"

"I see." She frowns looking at the ground.

"Such a soft lady." I tilt my head and regard her. "I keep leafing through my head-book for the memory of another like you and find nothing. And I have so many memories, did you know? So many. So many travels, delights, regrets…" I pause briefly. "A girl shouldn't be so soft: the world's rough and it'll shape her ugly."

Languidly breathing, the girl eases into her arms a little more.

"Or it was. It was a rough place." I sigh. "You know why I'd laughed earlier? Why you mentioned souls. You know why I joke of souls?"

She blinks, but her eyes are out of focus.

"So many of us fiends are so obsessive over souls- it's just extraordinary souls. You have to look for those mature, spirited humans: their souls heavy with character and experience.

She closes her eyes.

"A newborn's soul, for example, won't do anything for you. It is special, though. Yes."

Her back rises and falls.

I threw a shell at her hair, but it bounces off and lands on the ground. She doesn't even flinch.

I gaze into the fire throwing some shells in. I burn them to let off some anger. My gaze wanders to the girl. I would rather burn this… thing. This _'girl'_.

_Blasted_…! Should've grabbed her while she was at the edge! Would it have been so simple?

Or do I need her agreement to exchange her life for mine from the circle?

Am I forgetting…? Am I forgetting the conditions?

This girl be damned for rekindling hopes in me!

Pressing my hands into my face- angry, roughly- I glare at her through parted fingers. I breathe out.

If I could just lunge out from here and take her… I'd do it. I would.

I growl, my body still feels the sensation of when I last forced myself through the barrier.

The searing in my marrow, the purging of my eyes. And I still would! I'd still lunge from here!

I'd bloody well do it thrice if it meant escaping this blasted circle. She was at the edge. Why didn't I _PULL HER IN?_ _TAKE HER?_

I've forgotten so much! Is this what it was like? Having passions?

_I want to die. _

I wanted to leave, but not anymore. If this is passion… I want to die.

I'd bite my tongue again- burst blood and drown in myself. Nails in my wrists, tearing: and dig and tug and pull out my bleeding throat. Again, to…

Whining silence, every day- eh what's-what's a day? Two days, she said; what are days, huh?What are months? What are years? I've been here centuries- centuries? Centuries?! Was it longer… Did even centuries…?

Quiet settles in, and the wind dashes the leaves.

Sometimes I scream just to hear my voice again. What happened to my life…? My jaw is quaking my eyes are warm.

I wish she hadn't come here…

Taking my hands from my face, I look at this peaceful, peaceful- she's so peaceful, isn't she? "Peaceful little cunt!"

"_Wake up!"_ I throw another shell at her, missing.

"_WAKE UP!"_ I throw another and another.

"See me! See me- this body?! It does not grant the bloody peace of sleep!"

I take a handful and toss them.

"I haven't slept a minute, bastard daughter of a slut-bitch-two pence whore! I haven't slept a second! I have always been awake!" I yell. "Two days?! You miserable wench, had I only been here two days I'd drink a pub dry."

"Damn you, you hear?! When you're dead I'll find and spit on your grave. I'll even plant an olive tree there!" I continue to throw the shells, they scatter around her.

"_I hate you… I hate…"_ I am sobbing now…? A fiend, sobbing…

"_Why?" _

I drop my arms to the ground, crying in shakes. For the life of me, I can't remember a time ever crying.

When the girl wakes, I shall see to it that she leaves. The agony that she brings is too much for me to bear.

_**If by some miracle you actually read all of this. Please review, even if it's just to say you read the whole thing. **_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks, **__**ABprongslett**__**, August1999, and **__**HarmonysGirl93**__** for reviewing. You're all great. And yes this is my first serious story. August 1999, I definitely made more of an effort to put who's speaking this chapter, I really should have made that much more clear, especially since the first few chapters are so dialogue heavy. Thanks for helping make me better! Also this is in the girl's POV. **_

I open my eyes taking a deep breath. I smack my lips and rub my eyes, still a bit tired. I take a closer look and notice the guy from before sitting in front of me.

Is he asleep? His eyes are closed and he's leaning against a crumbling brick wall within the edge of his circle.

"Are you still awake?" I ask.

"No." He replies shortly. I examine him more closely. His beard is long… probably from being stuck in the circle for so long, and his skin is so dirty it is hard to tell what color it really is. But his hair is a dark brown, perhaps black and he appears to be about my age?

"Sorry, I just figured since your eyes were closed and all." I explain adjusting my body. Something tumbles from my hair and on to the ground… looks like a shell?Oh, it's one of the chestnuts shells. But why is it in my hair? I ruffle the top of my skull finding two more shells and a burr. Did he throw these at me? I look at him and arch an eyebrow.

His cheeks are wet and his nose is red.

"Did you do something bad? Tell me the truth." I insist.

"Piss off." He murmurs.

Yikes… He's in that mood.

"Listen if it's about the Chestnu-" I start but am quickly cut off.

"What did I just say." He says that as more of a fact than a question, I tense up. "Piss off." He repeats.

What'd I do? I thought I was being nice! "You want me to leave?!" I yell.

He doesn't look up from the floor.

I'm a bit scared now… What time is it? It doesn't look like sunset. It's not sundown yet.

"I don't think I c-" I try again.

"Leave." He cuts me off once more.

"But the deal is t-"

"Leave."

"If I mess up the-"

"Leave."

I'm not going to leave. I don't want to leave. I'm not about to mess up a deal with a demon. I can't just walk out!

"I can't leave!" I insist.

He turns to me and glares. "Leave. I want you to be leaving-walking out of here: go and be damned, villain."

I just look at him, I'm biting my teeth together and my heart's going wild.

He continues. "Burn in hell, dog. It's where you belong with all the blasted, foul creatures of your kind. Humans, demigods, gods, all be dammed. "

"Calm down!" I yell angry.

He picks his head up from his arms and glares at me.

I continue, trying to make my voice soothing. "Just… Calm down alright? Calm down, please."

"You truly are an idiot." He rolls his eyes.

Now he's making me mad. Here I am trying to be nice and he's getting angry with me?! "Well… Well, you're crazy! Why the hell are you mad at me?! Why'd you even talk to me? What the hell do you want?!" I yell in frustration. "You're lonely right? That's it, right?"

He starts standing up-well, I'm not going to let him look down on me, I'm standing up too. I'll step up to him. He won't get the better of me. "I don't have any problems fighting with you. You swore against my family and I won't stand for that alright?!" Course I'm shaking in my boats the whole time I say this.

He frowns, all sad like. "No. I swore against your race."

I gulp and frown too.

"Your entire. Miserable. Sin-hearted. Race." He pauses. "Know what I'd do if I got out of this circle?" He steps forward and I step back. "Yes or no?"

"No." I say quietly.

He leans forward, just before what I'd guess is the barrier. I can feel him breathing on my face. It's cold and warm…

"Kill. The whole. Lot of them." He breathes. "Kill the men, kill the women, kill the babies, lads and lasses- like you. To lasses like you, I'll dive my hands into their guts, wrench out their innards string by string, and set them on fire."

I'm crying a little. "I'm sorry, okay?!" I don't know what happened to you… I-I just wanted to know and be nice and…"

He leans back, standing up straight, and breathes out. I swear I see flames coming out of his mouth, airy. "Are you scared?" He asks.

I nod fast.

"Why?" He frowns.

"I-I-don't know." I stammer.

"I can't _touch_ you! _See?!" _All of a sudden he pushes his hand towards my face. My eyes widen. My whole body locks up. What am I seeing?

"I am _trapped_ before here!" His skin's burning off in a bright yellow glow. I can see his muscles, charred black, turning inside out. Fire's blazing all over his hand. There's white in there… his bones.

I can't watch, I turn my head away.

"_WATCH!" _

I stop myself and force my gaze upon his hand.

"Your b-blood evaporating." I choke out.

He grimaces and tears fill up at the sides of his eyes. One drop, rolls down his cheek, and his hand shoots back to him like its spring-loaded. "I can't leave, understand?" He heaves great breaths. "Do you follow, sod for brains?" He holds up the twisty stump sticking to his wrist. "This: right here. This is what I've known too long."

His hand starts coming back together: the melted parts splitting and the bones getting covered back up. There's this popping noise with everything. I go green in the face.

"I can't kill your people! I _want_ to but I won't be able to leave here, follow?"

"But wh-?" I try to comprehend. "Why are you trapped there?"

"Would you believe me if I said it was a punishment? If I said it was an accident? An unjust imprisonment?" He sighs. "Whatever I say, whatever you believe, it doesn't matter. I've been trapped here for too long. I was trapped here long, long, long ago, and so… for reasons that no longer matter."

"I-" I hesitate. "I don't think you're being honest with me."

"How's that?" He arcs an eyebrow.

"I already told you, you need to calm down." I pause for a moment building up my courage. "How?" I swallow and hold my fists tight. "How do I get you out of there?"

He freezes. He can't believe what I'm saying. Uh, me neither.

He shakes his head. "You've lost it."

I shake my head. "Nope, I still got it. I know what've I've asked you." I repeat. "Tell me how to get you out of there."

He laughs. "If you haven't lost it, you never had it in the first place. I suspected as much. You're touched, aren't' you?"

"Look, I have no idea what you're saying. But I'm still thinking straight." I frown.

"Hush and listen you rude little pest." He's angry again.

I shut my trap

"Do you even know what you're saying? Remember _**what **_you're talking to." His eyes look pained.

"Doesn't matter." I shake my head.

"I didn't just 'beat them up'." He stares into my eyes.

"Huh?" I frown confused.

"I did not just 'beat up' the men who raped her. I bore my nails hot into their eyes and tore off their faces." He frowns.

"What?" I take a step back, a bit scared now.

"And that's not all I did. When I saw her lying there, body warm only from the bodies of others, and eyes with no spark in them. I set fire to the place where she died. I came upon all who lived in their town and murdered them. I torched their homes and pulled the ribs from their chests…Crushed their heads, snapped their bones, stripped their flesh. If I could torment them I did it."

He takes a deep breath continuing. "And in any case if you're wondering, you'll all the same to me. I killed all kinds of you- one kind 'human'. Sex, age: I didn't pay it any mind when I slew them."

_Holy shit._

"Soon they all gathered to the center of the town, where I'd first caught sight of her, as if to mock me; so I melted them all to the earth. Slowly." He doesn't stop. "On the night that she died I _erased_ that town."

All my fighting spirits gone… "Why'd you tell me that."

"You asked. You never want to be on the receiving end of a demon's wrath." He shrugs.

"I didn't wan- you didn't have to tell me the whole story!" I yell.

"You're right I didn't. But didn't you want to know."

"What the hell's wrong with you?" My fists are clenched and my hands are shaking.

"I'm a _demon_." He says this as if the answer is simple.

"Holy-no! That's bull! Is that why you got put here?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Holy shit." My brain tries to absorb the information and I'm met with some horrible mental images.

"I've done many things in my life: things some find admirable, and others some find despicable. I've put a curse on a family for all their generations; saved a gaggle of slaves from the tyranny of their fellow man. I've ruined a marriage and restored another; slaughtered a town and rescued a child. I've done… so many things. And of all of those, not one of them is the reason why I'm here."

I stare at him for a long while. "That sounds very human."

He looks taken aback. "W-what?" He stammers.

"Don't you know?" I smile a bit. "Humans are notorious for their choices. I've done many things I'm proud of and some I'm not so proud of, but that doesn't make me a bad person."

He's silent, I don't think it ever occurred to him.

"So, you've forgotten why you're trapped?" I ask.

"Oh no I remember it quite clearly." He says slowly. "But as I said, the reason no longer matters."

"I just don't get it." I'm confused. "You wanted me to save you, right? I swore that's what you wanted. But now you're telling me all these mixed-up things, and what the heck am I suppose to think?"

"Maybe you should reconsider exactly _what_ you are saving." His eyes flick back up to mine.

"What do you want?" I ask frustrated.

"You gone."

I breathe out through my nose and close my eyes. Nah nah, ther's no way. I shake my head again.

" You've got to be lying to me. Why the heck are you lying to me? I know you don't want me to leave. What happened to you?" I look at his eyes.

A thought occurs to me. "Hey, how much did you love that girl

"I-I.." I hear something click in his throat.

He doesn't look like he wants to say it. "Shut up."

I feel bad for him. This is goddamn weird but it's like… he's so sad. Everything about this man's sad, I mean it. He's just damn.. miserable.. and pathetic.. he's so… how long has he really been in there?

"I've think you've been in there for long enough. I don't think you really wanna kill anyone." I decide out loud.

"Then you're a fool." He scoffs.

"Quiet I've had enough of that joke. Tell me how to save you." Nothing's going to change my mind now.I reach out and grab his hand, the hand that got screwed up and healed now. I hold onto it. "Come on."

He stares at me. He looks at my hand and holds it with both of his and squeezes. He locks his eyes with mine.

"Tell me." I insist.

He takes a deep breath. "I must be switched with another life. That's the only way for me to leave."

I pause and frown for a moment. "I'm not going to switch with you-listen." I keep him from saying anything else. "I'm going to find another way alright?"

"What the hell could you do?" He's doubtful.

I shake my head. "Look you've got to believe me." He holds onto my hand even tighter. I look up and finally notice the sun's gone. "You don't want me to leave anymore, I can feel that."

He's really holding on tight.

"But believe in me. Let me go and I'll save you."

He looks at our hands again. He's cutting off my circulation, squeezing my hand tighter and tighter. Damn, now come on don't do this. He's still staring at my hand.

"Let me go." I say quietly.

_Come on…_

He wouldn't, right?

_Don't_… _don't pull me in_…stop pulling me…

I'm trying to calm down my heart. I'm trying not to lose it.

But it's hard when he's bringing my arm a little bit closer, and a little bit more.

Come on, come on, please…

_TRUST ME!_

"Let me go." I whisper, not thinking about it. My eyes are shut and my heart is thumping in my chest.

I don't wanna get stuck in there.

I can feel him looking up at me, and I breathe faster. I'm trying to be calm. I can feel my lips moving pleading. And after a while, real slow… he does it.

I open my eyes shocked.

He let's go of my hand and holds up his where mine once were. As he's about to drop it, I toughen up and grab it up again. We make eye contact.

"Believe in me, got that?" I give him a reassuring smile.

He doesn't say anything. I let go of his hand and pick up my pack.

We hold a look.

"I beg you, don't betray me." His voice is pained. "Please."

"I won't betray you. I promise." I wait for the deal to be sealed. But the walls don't shake, my voice doesn't boom. He's not making me save him; he's giving me the choice. "Catch ya, on the flip side." I smile taking a step back and another one. And I run out of there.

_**So how is she going to save him… hahaha. Everyone guess in the reviews please. Also if anyone would want to beta-read this. I would be eternally grateful. My surgery is tomorrow to get the screws out of my knee, wish me luck. **_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it's really encouraging. **_

It's cold now I'm actually shivering. The moon's high, the grass is glowing; it's dark, but beautiful. It's quiet, like before: like always right? It's just wind and dead leaves. Even animals don't walk through this place.

I wonder how long it's been since people did.

At least this is probably the first time someone's walked through here with a sapling in their hand.

I step into the big room and look out ahead; rubbing my thumb over the branch of the tree I'm carrying. I can see him there on the floor, his hands over his face. I know he can hear me. I walk forward.

Wiping his nose with the back of his hand, he stands up and breathes out loudly. He opens his eyes and I'm kind of surprised. His eyes reflect brightly and it almost seems like they're glowing. I stop at the edge of the barrier. He looks at me.

"You look a mess."

I clutch the sapling tighter. "Yeah well." My belly growls and I sniff. "It's pretty hard to dig out a tree properly with no real tools. Especially one like this."

We both check out the sapling.

"Isn't that-" He freezes, and his body tenses.

"Yeah… It's an olive sapling."

His face looks pained.

"I didn't pick it to mock you. Olive trees are strong; it has the best chance of growing in the circle." I frown. "If there's anything that's going to take root in dirt like this, it's an olive."

"Right." His face is expressionless.

I take a deep breath working up the courage. "Step back, I'm coming in."

He does that after a second or two, and I walk into his place.

Bending down, I hold the olive up to him. "Take it."

He does that too, after thinking about it. I take a sharp rock out of my pocket that I picked up outside and stab it into the ground, cracking what was left of the floor. The old floor crumbles fairly easily, revealing the barren soil beneath. It sticks pretty badly but I can still yank it out. I do that and keep breaking up the earth.

I can feel him staring, and I know what he's thinking. Even if I'm not a gardener, I can see this soil's pretty bad. And he knows as well as me how it is for growing. If anything grows it'll be with awful chances. Seriously, an olive's about the only thing that might.

Making matters worse, I don't have very long before that sapling's as good as dead. The roots are good and all, but it's not… I remember what he said about demons stealing life from the very earth around them and I shiver involuntarily.

And honestly I don't know the difference between a good sapling and a bad one. I sort of just went with my gut.

So knowing most of that… He's probably thinking of just walking out.

That's what's going to happen, right? Two living things get in, only one gets out. But I'm not going to check on him and see if he leaves. It's _not_ that I trust him.

I _can't _trust him, but…

This is about all I can think of. Getting him out without leaving _me_ in.

If I look at him and show him that I'm worried… That'd mess everything up.

So I've got to keep at it- I've got to break up this spot. I stab and pull and dig, clearing out stones and dirt. I pile all the dirt up next to me, I'll need it later. After a lot of effort I lean back and look at the hole I made. Then, slow, I turn to see if he's still there.

He is.

I hold up my hand. He gives me the olive. I take it and open my satchel. It's filled with wet, heavy soil I gathered while I was gone.

I carefully transplant the sapling; putting some good soil over its roots and filing the hole back up with a proper mix of my collected stuff and dirt from the foundation.

I take my canteen from the clip at my waist and open it up. This is filled with spring water. It took a while to find that. Honestly, it took me a while to do everything. I kind of feel bad about it, but I moved as fast as I could. Anyway there should be enough here for a healthy "first" watering. I don't want to drown it.

I pour the insides of the bottle over the leaves and plot, screwing it closed when I'm done and putting it back on my waist.

"That's it." I say.

"That's all?"

I stand up wiping sweat away from my forehead. "Yup."

"Rather anti-climatic." He blinks.

We both look outside the circle for a while. I give him a look from my side.

He's still looking out.

Breathe…

I step forward. He doesn't move.

I leave his side and turn around.

We both stare at the olive tree.

… Did it work?

I open my mouth to ask, but close it again when I see him.

He's scared. He's at the edge of the barrier and scared… Oh man, I just realized. If just touching it before hurt him so much, how did it feel when he pushed his whole hand through?

He had a stone face when he did it, but_… God_.

I can't say anything to that.

I don't know what that feels like.

…_Man_.

Seeing him like that, shaking with fear and panicking just thinking about moving ahead… I can feel my eyes welling up. I just try not to cry, for him.

He loosens up his shoulders and runs a hand through his hair.

With his eyes closed, he jerks forward.

"W-Wait!" I cry out taking a step forward to stop him.

His foot passes over 'the line'.

My hand is up in the air… I wanted to stop him. I didn't want to see that pain anymore. He jerks his other foot forward, completely leaving the spot.

"It…"

He steps again faltering… Again and again, he walks towards me.

He lowers himself and… just… embraces me.

I wrap my arms around him.

He just eases into me, weak. His skin warms up all over, and he buries his face in my hair, inhaling deeply.

I'm crying…

"S'okay now…" I choke. "S'okay, right?"

He just rests on me, tailing away any of the nipping cold in my body.

He breathes out past my ear. "Thank you."

I squeeze him a little tighter.

"I'm sorry." He whispers.

I shake my head, trying to keep myself together.

"Can I just stay like this…? For a little bit…? I need to know this is real." His voice is scratchy like it's hard to speak.

"Y-Yeah! Yeah, you can."

I can hear his breathing and he whispers something. I can't hear what it is.

He holds me tightly, and we don't say anything else. After a few moments, he let's go, clearing his throat and composing himself.

"You're a surprisingly emotional lady. Are all ladies like that now?" He smiles.

"I-It just really hurt looking at you, that's all." I'm rubbing my face with the back of my sleeve trying to wipe the tears away.

He brushes some off as well, his own eyes a bit teary. "I'm sure that it did, really. I was quite emotional myself."

"Well what are you waiting, for?" I mock him. "A formal invitation? You are cordially invited to move your damn legs." I grab his hand pulling him 'outside'. We stand looking at the ruins of the small town that used to be.

"This town- this town… I might've liked it once." He turns to me smirking. "Though when I first came here, I never would've expected the stay." He studies my face intently. "Person, do you have any idea how to get back to your home?"

"Not really." I force myself back together. Showing weakness was not something I make a habit of. "And stop calling me person. My name is Caroline. What's your name?" I ask.

He frowns, I must have touched upon a sore subject. "Call me whatever you please."

I blink; I'll have to think of a new name for him. I extend my hand for him to shake. "Caroline Parker."

"Well, Miss Parker," he bends down kissing my hand and I feel my face flush. "I'll help you there. After all I owe you my life."

I'm taken aback. "Really?"

"I can't assure you when we will find it, but I'll assure you that we shall." He chuckles letting go of my hand. "I'll take you there, I may as well."

"You're not going to travel?" I ask. I hadn't thought past getting him out of the circle.

"This should be enough of a journey after standing still so long." He replies scanning the horizon. "Since I leaned on you earlier, you can lay on me while you sleep… I'll keep you warm."

I look at him studying him. He's extremely old-fashioned. It occurred to me that if he was a modern boy I've have my doubts about letting my guard down around him, especially while I was sleeping. But I know that he's just trying to pay me back for saving him. I look away from him, "thank you."

"I thought this wouldn't happen." He smiles keeping his eyes on the forest around us as we walk. It's as if he can't absorb it all fast enough. The sun's setting. In an hour or two it'll be too dark for us to see.

He continues. "Am I actually asleep? Dreaming?"

"If you are, that'd be weird for me." I laugh out loud.

"I'm glad you stayed." He turns looking at me again, and again I'm surprised by the intensity of his gaze.

I laugh.

"I'm glad you're a fool." He adds.

I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Really I am. I can't say it enough." He doesn't seem to be insulting me, he seems sincere.

I'm not sure how to respond.

"Don't consort with any fiends other than me." He smirks in my direction. "Not all demons are as nice as me, follow? The soul-eaters are quite nasty."

"Got it." I laugh at the ridiculousness of it. As if this type of thing happened every other day.

We continue walking, in silence just enjoying the moment.

Eventually there's only a little bit of daylight left. "How will we get back to your camp, pers-" He pauses for a moment. "Caroline."

"Eventually we'll leave this place." I explain. "Arrive in a city, get you cleaned up." I look him up and down. He's in bad need of a bath, new clothes, and a shave. Then head off to camp."

* * *

We had set up camp in a clearing, the fire I had made was dying down, and the sun was rising.

The sun shines in a different way now. Different from all the ways I've seen it before.

I'd thought I'd seen them all, but this one's different-much more different, pleasant. Watching it come up this morning with her resting at my chest was profoundly serene.

Having her calmly there through the moonlight made it better than any other time. And now… a "camp" that's brimming with life, that's where I'm going to guide her, free of charge. And after that who can say?

The world has changed, aye, greatly changed. It doesn't feel at all the same. My friends have died. I can tell that from the air, dead and I could not wish them farewell. My kin too, are dead. On this path breathing fresh from the winds. I can feel these things and new things. Though fiends still roam, I know no one alive, no one. But this girl, here.

I think that by her being here, there is company. I want to stay with her, if only ever from afar. I want for her life to go well. And as for mine. When she's gone I think I'll go too. Perhaps it isn't the best use of time she returned to me. But I am… _'tired'_.

_**To be continued. Hopefully they'll return to camp halfblood safely. Muwahah. Review pretty please, so I can make the story better for you.**_


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up on his chest, birds were chirping and being annoying and his chest was slowly rising up and down, perhaps a bit slower than a normal human's.

I sat up quickly looking down at him, only to see his eyes closed. I examine him closely, trying to decide if he was awake.

"I can't sleep remember." He says startling me.

"Right." I say, rising up and brushing myself off. I yawn smiling down at him and extending my hand and pulling him up.

"Civilization here we come." I grin looking at him. "And we can clean you up." I make a face, "You need it."

He rolls his eyes brushing himself of and looking around. "Well I hear noises coming from this direction." He points toward the sun frowning. "They're quite loud actually."

"Probably the highway I ran off." I explain to him.

"Highway?" He asks.

I groan in frustration. "Okay we need to figure out how long you've been stuck in there." I say to him as we walk closer to what we assume is the highway. "Have you heard of The United States of America?" I ask him.

He snorts. "Off course, it's where we are right now."

I nod. "Alright, so after 1776 for sure. What about the Civil War?"

"I remember that quite vividly." He nods running his hands through his beard trying to comb out the knots. I have to keep from laughing.

"After 1865 as well." I sigh trying to remember more history. "World War I?"

"The war to end all wars." He nods. "That was hell."

"World War II?" I question brushing off some dirt from his shoulder.

"What?" He snaps. "There was a second one? Honestly did the humans not learn from the first one?" He fumes. "What a total waste of life."

"Alright so that puts you at…" I count in my head. "About a hundred years. You were trapped for about a hundred years." I tell him. I push a branch out of my way and spot the highway.

"There it is!" I grin looking at him but he's frozen.

"A hundred years." He repeats to himself. "Tis not so long for a demon I suppose." He shrugs following me.

"Are these things?" He asks incredulously as he watches the cars go by.

I laugh. "Cars, they're cars." I smile looking over at him as I try to catch him up on the last hundred years he's missed.

"What's this?" He asks me.

"That," I glance over at it briefly, "it's a razor, we'll need it so you can put it in the basket." I say holding the red plastic basket out to him.

"Alright." He says taking things in stride and tossing it in. "What about this?" He asks pointing to something else.

I sigh and look at him. "If you ask me about everything we're never going to get the stuff we need." I frown handing him a ponytail. "Pull your hair up, you look gross."

"Fine." He relents pulling his hair up and starts picking items up and reading the labels. I leave him there while I go grab the items we need. I grab some easy to make food items as well as some male hygiene products and check out.

I'm handing the cashier my money when I glance to the left and see the newspaper. My mouth gapes open. "Impossible."

The cashier raises an eyebrow. "Is there is a problem, miss?"

"Is that today's newspaper?" I ask.

He nods handing me my change and receipt. "Would you like a copy? Only a dollar."

I shake my head slowly and mumble a no thanks. I wander over to the demon and grab him leading him back outside.

"So what exactly are you saying?" He asks me.

"I'm saying that I was in that forest for three maybe four days and according to that newspaper, only a day has passed!" I rub my temples. "Time is warped in that place."

"I had assumed as much, but I never had the means to test the theory." He explains.

"You've suffered longer than a hundred years." I grab his hand and pull him into GoodWill. "You need clothes from this century."

He rolls his eyes. "Aye, I suppose."

"By the way I came up with a name for you." I tell him leading him to the Men's section.

"And…" He looks at me expediently.

"Damien." I laugh. "Sounds similar to Demon." I grab a shirt and hold it up to him. "How do you feel about this shirt, _Damien_?"

"Pers-Caroline." Damien says rather annoyed. "I thought we were going to your 'camp'."

"We are." I explain. "But our train tickets aren't till later tonight. So until then we have work to do."

We pay for the clothes and grab the bags carrying them out, hailing a cab we stop at the train station and buy an extra ticket for Damien. I already had mine and due to the time difference between the ruins and the real world, I hadn't missed my train.

"Humans truly are extraordinary, you've advanced farther in a hundred years then I would have ever imagined." Damien grins looking around.

"Perhaps in terms of inventions, but not much else." I laugh admitting a sad truth.

We show the conductor our tickets and board the train. "You still look like shit so we'll have to clean you up in the bathroom, but I splurged a bit on the tickets so we have an actual room to sleep in." I inform him.

"Wonderful." He rolls his eyes.

"Well if you had paid better attention to your hygiene over the years the-"

"I was trapped in a blasted circle, hygiene wasn't the firs-"

We argued all the way to our compartment, which I threw our stuff in, keeping the stuff we would need. "Well now you're very much gross, I'm surprised we've even been let into all the places we went to today." I grab his hand and pull him down the corridor and into one of the public bathrooms. I push him inside and shut the door behind us. "Alright here's some shampoo and conditioner." I hand it to him, "Jump in the shower quickly…. On second thought, not so quickly, take your time." I laugh hoping up on the counter by the sink.

Damien looks over at me and raises an eyebrow. "Isn't it rather indecent for a woman to be in the presence of a nude man?" He asks.

"Hush," I roll my eyes. "I'll keep my eyes closed." I close my eyes. "So just hurry up already." I hear his clothes slide off and hit the floor as he undresses, and I hear him turn on the shower getting in. "All clear?" I ask.

"Aye." He tells me.

"Stop saying 'Aye'," I open my eyes. "It's yes or no."

"Or 'aye'." He mutters.

I lean back against the mirror and get out the supplies lining up all the hygiene products on the counter and setting out a pair of clothes on the toilet. I close my eyes again and let the warm steam lull me to sleep.

"Caroline, wake up." Damien shakes me. "Caroline." He repeats.

"I'm awake." I say softly but my eyes are still closed. To be honest, I'm exhausted. Eventually I find the will power to open them. "I see you've put on the clothes." I look him up and down examining him. The clothes fit nicely, simple but nice. A pair of dark wash jeans, sneakers, and a maroon t-shirt. His dark hair is still wet and I can see water drops rolling down his neck.

"Alright, step one complete." I smile reaching up and ruffling his hair affectionately. "Now sit." I push him on the toilet. "Don't move." I insist pulling out the razor. "This shouldn't be too hard."

"Have you ever done this before?" He asked.

"Were you saying something, ponytail boy?"

Damien rolls his eyes. "Just do it quickly."

I quickly buzz off a huge chunk of his hair so that it was more manageable. Damien cringes when he sees the hair hit the floor.

"Don't be a baby." I get some scissors and start snipping away at smaller chunks of hair. When I think I'm finished I step back and take a look, I'll admit it wasn't perfect, but it was good. I run my hands through his mostly dry hair. "What's cooking good looking?" I joke pointing to the mirror.

Damien runs his hand through his hair. "Well…"

I shush him grabbing a pair of tweezers. "I'm about to vanquish your uni-brow."

"I'm not a girl don't pluck my eyebrows." He protests.

"It's just the space in between your eyebrows, trust me no one wants to look at the caterpillar growing on your face." I tell him beginning to pluck his eyebrows.

I finish and step back grinning. "This is just like one of those shows on makeover shows on TV." I point to the rest of the items. "Everything else you're going to have to do by yourself. Shave your beard, put on deodorant, brush and floss teeth, clean ears with q-ticks, and clip your claws." I cough. "I mean nails. Then you can come out and eat with me in the dining cart."

He nods standing up and looking over the items.

I open the door and step out shutting the door behind me. A blonde girl's waiting and her face lights up when I step out. "Thank god, I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold it in." She steps forward and I panic.

"Um… You can't go in there." I protest weakly.

"Why not?" She asks rather harshly narrowing her eyes.

"There's still someone else in there." I say stepping away quickly, I ignore her comment.

I take a breath calming myself. It wouldn't be worth it to try and correct her misunderstanding. I find the dinning cart which is mostly empty. There are a few tables filled with what looks like business men. I ignore them as well making my way to the back of the dinning cart and choosing a table in the corner with a nice view out the window. We've finally made our way out of the city and into the country and there's a nice view of the sunset. I sit down and lean my head against the window waiting for Damien.

"Excuse me, this seat isn't taken is it?"

"Huh?" I blink a couple times opening my eyes. A very cute boy is sitting in front of me, I'm ashamed that's my first thought.

"I'm asking if I can sit with you." He laughs at my reaction.

"Y-Yeah." I stutter wiping the drool off the side of my mouth. _Smooth Caroline…_

He's sitting across the table from me. "I'm Caroline Parkers." I introduce myself sticking out my hand for him to shake, upon realizing it was the hand I wiped my drool off with I quickly switch hands. I briefly contemplate bashing my face into the table, but quickly toss that idea aside and instead look at the boy sitting in front of me.

He looks like he's tanned from the sun with bright freckles spread out across his face accentuating his blue eyes. His hair's short and blonde but it has just enough kick in it to give off a surfer-ish vibe. _Basically he's hot. _

Surfer boy smiles and reaches out shaking my hand. "I'm Chase Dawson, it's nice to meet you."

I look down at my hands before I remember I'm supposed to let go. "Uh… Ditto." I smile.

_God, I wish I could be cool._

I see Damien behind Collin's head and I wave him over. He takes a seat next to me scowling. He looks like a completely different person.

"What's your damage…?" I whisper to him.

He mutters a slew of old fashioned curse words, his arms crossed.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you two. I didn't mean to make your boyfriend jealous." Chase smiles a bit at this.

"No, it's not like that." I shake my head quickly. "We don't even know each other that well to be honest…"

Damien pulls himself together. "Jealously? Surely not even in jest…" He shakes his head extending his hand. "I'm Damien, her traveling companion. I'm merely escorting the lady to her destination safely. " His smile is forced.

I sigh elbowing him. "Be modern!" I hiss. I contemplate telling him to ease up a little bit on the forced kindness but when I think back to how he treated me when _we_ first met… I guess I should be happy with this.

"Sorry, silly me, making assumptions. I'm Chase." Chase smiles shaking Damien's hand. "Chase Dawson."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Damien's voice is monotone.

"So what brings you out east?" I ask quickly.

"Oh, me and my sister are actually- " Chase is cut off by the arrival of the blonde girl from earlier.

"It's you!" She says in disgust.

I cringe thinking she's referring to me. "Look it was all a misunder-"

"So we meet again." Damien's face contorts into a scowl.

"Uh…" I trail off not quite sure what was going on.

_**I apologize for not updating any of my stories… But I'm getting around to them so have no fear. I'm working on Partners in Crime as we speak. And please comment/review. It would make my day.**_


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